The Secrets I Kept
by mythologyrox
Summary: Everyone thought without the iron suit Tony Stark was just a billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist. When the six Avengers get captured by a terrorist organization they find out how much they underestimated their teammate.
1. Capture, Escape, and I'll Explain Later

**AN: Okay I hope you enjoy this new story I'm writing. This is my first Avengers fanfic so please if they are a little out of character, give me some slack. I got this new idea from Sieto that I really like, and I love Tony kicking butt. I mean he's the only one with a disadvantage in the group. If he ever lost his suit, he is in fit physical shape but not as much as to cause real damage like Clint or Natasha can. Anyways enjoy and review :)**

"Remind me again how we got captured like this," Tony asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The six Avengers weren't a group that many dared to mess with, but to actually succeed in this type of thing was definitely humiliating. In their group was two master assassins, a god who lives up to his name, a super soldier, a giant green rage monster, and him who in the public was known as a guy with just an ingenious suit but in reality was also purely dangerous without it. Not that anyone knew that.

"Will you shut the fuck up I'm trying to think unlike you," Natasha snapped. She was definitely annoyed that she was caught off guard like this. After all she was trained in this area since she was a little kid.

"Sorry Natashalie did I hear you right? _You_ were trying to think. I didn't know that you could," he retorted.

Natasha glared at him, but all he did was smirk.

Footsteps were heard from a couple feet away before she could come up with a comeback.

A man shorter than Tony showed up at the door. He looked around mid-twenties. He had a handsome face with a nicely trimmed beard and brown eyes. His black hair was cut military style, and a scar ran down his neck. The man was wearing an expensive looking business suit along with recently polished black shoes. In other words he looked like a short Asian politician that messed with the wrong people.

"When I first learned of the famous Avengers I never thought it would be this easy to capture you. The only person I really know of is you, Tony Stark. After your escape from my partner two years you've been one of the most wanted by Ten Rings," he said.

"Well it's an honor. But you know my name, but I don't know yours. And I don't want to keep calling you the Asian man in my mind."

The Asian man chuckled humorlessly.

"You can call me Yumiko."

"Like the dancewear?"

Let's just say getting electrocuted in the arm isn't the best feeling Tony had experienced. But it wasn't the worst feeling either, so he forced himself to smile, and tried to ignore the pain spreading all over his body.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you it's rude to electrocute people?" He ignored all of the 'are you crazy' looks that he got from his mostly conscious teammates. A look of annoyance flashed across Yumiko's face, and he grinned triumphantly.

He started to attack first with his hands and feet still tied up. Tony took out a small knife from his back pocket, and quickly cut his hands and feet while still attacking the other man. A gun was skillfully aimed at Tony's head, but instead of stopping he kicked the gun out of the man's hands. He did it so quickly all everyone could see was a blur. The gun was now in the hands of Tony, and before the other man could do anything Tony shot him in the head. Quick and clean.

All the Avengers stood dumbfounded at the genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. They all knew he took lessons from his bodyguard, but this was beyond advanced fighting. And where did he even learn to shoot a gun so professionally?

"Are you all going to stare at me because you guys are really freaking me out?" That really didn't do anything so Tony just shook his head and started to untie Clint out of his bonds.

"How the heck did you do that Tony?" Clint rubbed his wrists where the rope was tightly tied a couple of seconds ago.

"Less talking start moving," was Tony's only response.

"Look who's talking. You're the one that usually gets us in trouble because of your big mouth."

Tony just ignored him and continued to release the rest of the Avengers from their ropes.

Bruce, Thor and Steve who was still groggy from their overdose of drugs were nowhere near awake to help them make their escape. But Tony didn't seem to worry about that, and just took out three vials of something green in it and poured it into their mouths.

"Where did you get that? And while we're at it where the hell did you get the knife?-"Clint was interrupted by a light groan from Steve as he shook his head awake.

"W-what happened?"Steve asked.

"That is what all of us want to know, Captain." A silent gunshot rang next to them, and Bruce and Thor startled awake. A now dead guard stood at the door right next to the emergency button.

"How the- You didn't even look back," Natasha said.

"Practice. Now let's get moving before anyone else notices." He tapped on his shoes, and pulled out another full loaded gun out of a small compartment. It was a handgun smaller than most Natasha and Clint had ever seen. Tony handed it to Natasha in one swift throw and instinctively she caught it with her right hand. Tony walked toward the now dead guard, and took out another bigger handgun along with a small dagger. He handed the gun to Clint, and gave Steve the knife.

"I don't know if you're any good with a knife, but I'm guessing you learned in the army. And for Thor I don't know much of mythology, but from your body build you'll do better with hand to hand combat. Now Banner you'll be little to less useless like that so turn into Hulk and smash the crap out of these creeps. Kay, okay."

The other five Avengers stared bewildered at Tony. They had definitely underestimated him, and he had definitely proved that he was tough with or without his iron armor.

"Guys I'll explain later I promise, but now we really have to get moving," he regretted promising them about the explanation as soon as it came out of his mouth. Now he can't go back on it, but they really had to get moving and he expected that they wouldn't take action until he promised.

"We'll hold you on that," Clint said.

They all ran out of the room, and outside a group of trained assassins were waiting for them. In the front was a tall, bald man. Tony recognized him the second he saw the man's face. It was Raza also the person who was in charge to kill and torture him two years ago. He expertly held the black handgun in his hand and in a blur shot the man right in the chest.

But Raza dodged the bullet as fast as Tony shot him. It grazed Raza's arm instead and it bled onto his military suit.

"Why you've gotten sloppy Stark."

"Actually I haven't. That was a warning shot," he retorted. Tony shot him once again while he unnoticeably took out a small marble shaped bomb. He turned it on and flicked it to the middle of the army of assassins.

"RUN!" And they all ran back into the room farthest away from the bomb. A large ripple shook the door, but fortunately the bomb wasn't a strong one.

"Okay now let's get a move on. I saw a small helicopter at the back," Tony announced.

Quickly they made their way to a small white helicopter that looked like it would be a perfect size for the six of them. They all grabbed a seat, but then realized Tony was missing. A shot rang outside of the helicopter, and through the windows they saw a pained Tony making his way to the front of the helicopter. Another shot rang, and a person went down. Lifeless.

"This is your pilot speaking. Put your seatbelts on. Our destination is Manhatten, New York. Hold on tight there maybe some gunshots going on for the next five minutes. Your pilot out," all of them let out a sigh of relief they didn't know they were holding. So far they were all alive. That was all that mattered but were they all okay was now the question on hold.

**Another AN: Hate it? Love it? Should I continue? Ten reviews and I will.**


	2. I Bet You Didn't Know That

"Okay okay I'll explain, but it has to be after I have some medical attention," Tony said.

They were safely at SHEILD base back at New York, with fortunately no major injuries.

Well they all had scratches, and bruises but they mostly seemed fine and almost completely healthy. Until they found out that Tony's shoulder was bleeding non-stop.

"STARK, why didn't you tell us? That needs medical treatment immediately," this was unexpectedly said by Natasha.

She was used to getting these types of injuries. She was an assassin, but Tony was a civilian without his suit more or less. He shouldn't have to be so calm with a bullet inside his arm.

Natasha had a headache the size of the Grand Canyon, but after over a hundred or so missions you tend to get used to those types of things. After sleeping for three hours in the plane the migraine decreased immensely.

She couldn't imagine how Tony was feeling though. He had the worst of all of them, and didn't get a wink of sleep. Actually doing the exact opposite, and flying a helicopter to New York for six straight hours. And now that she found out he had a bullet wound too she felt ashamed for skipping the plane lessons the SHEILD was giving a couple months ago.

"I told you now. No need to get so worked up to it."

Even after all the things going on the past few hours, he remembered he still had to be Tony Stark not Anthony McGrove. Tony Stark was sarcastic, arrogant, volatile, and eccentric. While Anthony McGrove was a rather pretty serious, business like, and responsible son of the Predator. They were completely opposite types of people, and he had been forced to become both this time. He didn't do that for a long time. It was either Stark or McGrove, and now that he had to do both he was both mentally and physically exhausted.

"No need to get so worked up to it," Steve started. "Tony you just got shot and you tell us-"he was interrupted before he could finish his rant.

He knew he was pushing the limit with Tony most times, but he couldn't help thinking how Tony Stark was so much different than his father.

Howard was serious for business even if he was arrogant at times. And he actually deserved to be. He helped win the war, and change the lives of so many people. A little arrogance wouldn't hurt anybody.

But for the first time he saw a side of Tony so similar to his now dead friend.

He was both hurt and relieved from it. Hurt remembering seventy years before where he had a life with Bucky, Peggy, and Howard. And relieved to have something familiar to his past life.

As much as the twenty first century was amazing he just wanted to go back home. Which was impossible.

Fury walked into the room with a scowl planted on his face.

He was getting too old for all the stress as much as he hated to admit it. Even after more than thirty years in the business he still didn't get used to being the head of SHEILD.

Most of the founding members of SHEILD was dead or retired which left only him to continue the business.

"I want a full written report. And a reason why you interrupted my break," Fury glared at the six of them.

After all the chaos of missions he finally got a break, and it turned out he wouldn't get one.

He was suspicious at first on where all the Avengers were. He assumed they were just resting at Stark Tower now the Avengers Tower. It wouldn't be the first time, but usually they all went back to SHEILD for one thing or another.

Natasha, Clint, and Steve came in occasionally to talk to Fury or training in the gym. As for Tony and Bruce they usually came to research science and what not. Thor rarely visited because he didn't really have a reason to. Loki was sent back to Asgard, and even if Loki was there Thor went to visit his girlfriend, Jane Foster.

"Well I think getting captured is a good enough reason," Tony smirked.

He grimaced slightly, and even though he barely moved the Avengers and Director Fury caught it instantly.

They were all staring at him in the first place like they thought he was going to escape back to his lab if they ever even blinked.

"Stark why is your shoulder bleeding," Fury asked.

His voice was still an emotionless void. Fury had gotten used to his agents getting hurt or even killed in the field. It happened every day so when the billionaire and genius showed up with a bloodied shirt he wasn't fazed in the least.

"I just told you we got captured."

"And how did six superheroes get captured?"

Before Tony could answer though Bruce spoke up, "Personally I think Tony should get that shoulder treated first, and then we'll talk. I think the rest of the team will agree with me when I tell you Tony need some rest after a fight with a bunch of terrorists, getting a bullet to the arm, and piloting a plane for six hours."

The Avengers nodded in agreement.

Tony and the rest of them needed the rest. Especially Tony. And even though they were impatient to hear how Tony could fight like he did their teammate's health was first.

"And not to mention getting electrocuted too," Clint added in. He had a disgusted expression on his face.

Tony was electrocuted with enough electricity to make a normal man unconscious.

The minute he saw how high the voltage was he was certain Tony would drop then and there. But unexpectedly he barely let out a gasp.

"I'm fine I just need to get the bullet out before my arm gets infected. And as much as I hate hospitals I don't want my arm needing to get chopped off."

Tony tried to fight another grimace. He lived through worse injuries. The arc reactor in his chest proved that, but he couldn't help but squirm a little.

He definitely had a concussion, and he didn't think he could stand much longer. Flashbacks zoomed in front of his eyes, as he strained to focus on the present time.

Tony saw Yinsen again as he died telling him to not waste his life. Obadiah was taking out his arc reactor out from his chest and he was forced to relive the betrayal he felt then. The torture he had to go through from the Ten Rings, but he didn't break. He was trained for the type of thing and he wasn't going to let a petty terrorist group to be the one to successfully make him give up. Back in the day when his father called him worthless, and slapped him in the face while he was drunk. That was an old memory. He was only seven then, and it was then that he started to realize he would never be good as his childhood hero, Steve Rogers, to his father.

So many flashbacks he was forced to relive. Most were bad, but some of the few memories were ones he cherished. His vision was dizzy from the rush of memories, and the pain in his arm wasn't making things any better.

He strained to stand up, but before he could get a grip of himself he collapsed onto the floor. Blood from his arm wound seeped the floor around him.

Tony slipped into unconsciousness just as he heard shouts of worry from his teammates until he welcomed the black to consume him.

He woke up feeling like a truck ran over him.

His already splitting headache was now more like it was going to explode, his arm became numb, and his mouth was desert dry along with his eyes.

All in all Tony knew that he looked downright horrible.

Memories came rushing through him both new and old, and it definitely wasn't helping things.

What Tony dreaded the most was to tell his teammates about his past. It was a difficult one that he really didn't want to relive.

"You going to tell us the truth now Stark," Natasha asked.

She hated not knowing, and she hated it more because this was Tony.

The man was a teammate, but she was probably the one who knew him the most. She didn't get along with him, but her time undercover as his assistant helped her to know him better.

Behind along with her was the rest of the Avengers and Fury. They were all asking the same question, and a dozen of other ones were waiting to be released out of its cage.

"Whatever are you talking about," Tony answered faking innocence.

Of course he knew what they were talking about, but he wanted to delay it even for a minute.

He knew all the Avengers had a dark past maybe even worse than his, but it was different for him. He knew even after all the Avengers went through they would never know what it was like to him. From a young age of three he was trained to kill, the abuse both physical and mental from his father he had to deal with for years, the betrayal of Obadiah, the death of Yinsen, and the torture from the terrorists. He was surprised at himself that he didn't go crazy from all of it yet.

Now they wanted him to spill the secret he kept his whole life, and it felt like it was a little too much to ask of him.

"You know exactly what we're talking about. How were you able to fight that well? Even Natasha and I don't fight that well, and we're trained assassins," Clint said.

Same as Natasha he absolutely hated to be left in the dark. Along with Bruce he was the closest to Tony. They were both snarky and sarcastic Tony more than him. It was obvious they would get along pretty well.

Tony sighed knowing that they deserved to know the truth. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

As much as the world thinks how much he likes to talk about himself, he actually put little meaning into his words. He always avoided the sensitive questions, which was most of them with his rambling, and even if he actually answered the question he left it very vague.

The world didn't know anything about Tony Stark, at least nothing that was important or true.

"Fine I'll tell you. But you can't say a single word about what I tell you now because if you do I'll kill you all slowly, painfully, and intolerably."

After nods and eye rolls from the group he started speaking again.

"Now where do I start?" he was deep in thought for a couple of seconds, and the rest of them were anxiously waiting for him to explain.

A sudden question made Natasha and Fury mentally jump.

"Do you guys know Lilliana Smith?"

Natasha recognized the name and she widened her eyes and stared at Tony questioningly.

Lilliana was her teacher of a sort. She taught at SHEILD the first time Natasha came. Lilly was like a mother to her, and she was her role model her whole life. They only knew each other for a year before Lilly disappeared off the face of the Earth. Natasha never saw her again after, but she always remembered her teacher.

"H-how?-"for once in her life Natasha Romanov was totally speechless.

She hadn't heard that name since she was a teenager. And Lilly was the most secretive person in the world. Natasha couldn't imagine her to have any connection with him.

"She was my mom," he said simply.

Tony was expecting the reaction from Natasha. Even though Fury's emotionless mask was still on Tony saw in his eyes the shock from the name.

"B-but your mom was Maria Stark. It's impossible that your mom is Lilliana,"

Natasha swore at herself mentally for stuttering.

She was a spy, and one of the best in the business. She should be calm at shocks, and not be showing any reaction. But it seemed for once in her life she let her emotionless mask down.

Lilliana would never show that type of weakness. If Lilly was still alive Natasha would probably have to finish a thousand push- ups before she could ever have food again.

"Lilliana Smith was a fake name. Along with Alicia Brown, Violet Mclean, Melody Jackson, Alexandra Barnick, Crystal Miller, and a couple others. Even Maria Stark wasn't her real name. Her real name was Cecelia McGrove also known as the Predator."

Now Clint's eyes widened into the size of plates, and his jaw dropped slightly along with Natasha's.

The Predator was known to be the best in the spying business. She was a legend told to every agent in SHEILD. She was everything that every spy and assassin ever dreamed to be.

"No way. You don't mean THE Predator? The one that is like the best spy since like James Bond."

"Bingo! And James Bond isn't real Clint though my cousin's great great great great uncle, Ryan Sanders, was the real James Bond. They made up the name, and exaggerated things a bit, but that's him."

The two master assassins stood dumbfounded, and Fury fought to keep his face empty of emotion.

But the rest of the Avengers were dead confused about everything.

They didn't know a Lilliana or a Ryan Sanders and they really didn't know who Predator was. But it seemed whatever Natasha, Clint, and Fury found out was a pretty big deal. Anything to break even a bit of Fury's mask was bound to be important.

"Hold up rewind a bit. I thought we were talking about Tony's past. How did we start there and end up talking about James Bond?"

Bruce wasn't a person who got lost easily, but the whole conversation made him more and more lost than the time he was stranded in the middle of the desert in Africa. And at that time it took him almost two weeks until he found another human being nearby.

He usually was the only one to keep up with Tony's way of speaking, but now he seemed to be the most confused out of all of them.

"Let me simplify it for you a bit," Tony started.

He knew Steve, Thor, and Bruce had no idea what he was talking about.

He assumed they felt like he was speaking in code words or something so in sympathy he decided to be straightforward to them for once.

"I'm a spy from a family of superspies, detectives, secret agents, and assassins," he said slowly.

He mentally laughed at the expression on their faces, and smirked at his friends. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad after all. At least before he went into the bad parts.

**AN: A lot of my reviewers seemed so anxious for the next chapter that I took sympathy and finished it at midnight. I even made it extra long. Around 2,500 words. Hope you enjoy it because I worked for two days on this chapter. And for MovieMuncher I added some things to the beginning. Please review, and stick with me here. –mythologyrox:D**


	3. No Need To Get Too Close

**Okay so very sorry that I didn't update for awhile, but I was busy for school and stuff. I did some grammar check on this chapter, and hopefully soon I will be done with chapter four. Spoiler for after this story is done I will write a side story for it called The Secrets You Want. This is officially a series, and The Secrets You Want can be considered a sequel, but I hate sequels so I'm going to call it a side story instead. I'm halfway through with the next chapter so will be out around next week or so. I've also got the whole other story figured out, and also this story so I'll update every around two weeks. Still got homework to do, and this is my last year at my school so I'm studying harder than ever. I'm going to get this settled so here it goes:**

**-There will be no slash in this story.  
**

**-The story will be mostly Tony, but it will be a team-fic.  
**

**-The characters will be slightly out of character so just warning you.  
**

**-This story won't talk much about Tony's past except for the basics, and bits and pieces. The rest of Tony's past will be revealed in The Secrets You Want.  
**

**-In my story Tony will be around 38 even though Robert Downey Jr. is 47 I don't care. Clint will be five years younger than Tony so around 33. Steve will be the youngest so around 29. Natasha will be the same age as Clint: 33. Thor is immortal and a god so yeah. And Bruce will be around 35. I made up the ages so don't lecture me about getting the ages wrong, please.  
**

**-There won't be relationships in this story, but will be hints of Pepper/Tony and Clint/Natasha.  
**

**-There will be some more angst later, and maybe some arguments with Steve and Tony.  
**

**-I did choose a villain for the story, but not official yet. Any ideas you either review or PM it to me please.  
**

**-To any of my fans that read my other stories I deleted the other three, and probably will rewrite them later. As in very later after I'm finished with this series. I'm also considering making an NCIS or Alex Rider story too, because spies and federal agents are on my mind now.  
**

**-Finally I do not own the Avengers  
**

"WHAT!"

Bruce was sure he didn't hear right.

Tony Stark and spy should never be in the same sentence. Ever. But a part of him knew it was true.

He knew that Tony had a difficult life (one of the other reasons that the two of them got along so well.)But the hollow look Tony had made him mentally shiver the first time they met each other.

It was worse than the one Fury gave, and that was definitely saying something. The man had the most terrifying eyes ever.

* * *

Behind him Steve looked like the time he woke up after his time stuck in a block of ice for seventy years.

A spy, Tony Stark was a spy. If he didn't just see the man in action he would've laughed.

Tony Stark who was known as the one that always stood out was secretly a super spy. The billionaire and genius was a spy from the espionage world. It was ridiculous but from his time at SHIELD and the time during the war he found out the best disguises were right in front of you.

"H-how? I mean the short time I knew Maria we were pretty close. She absolutely never mentioned anything that she was a spy," Steve asked incredulous.

He thought he knew Maria better than that. After Howard, Bucky, and Peggy she was his best friend.

No doubt she was beautiful, and she looked so innocent to be a spy.

"Because she wasn't. She was an assassin. I'm the one that's a spy not my mom," Tony replied.

His face turned serious the minute the question was asked.

He was never one that expressed his feeling and all that mushy stuff, but now that he had to relive his past he thought he might just do it.

All of the events of his life that included torture, killing, and fights, and he had to talk about every one of them in just one day. It was just too hard.

The Avengers and Fury already thought that he was volatile and self obsessed.

What would they think of him if they knew how many people he killed in cold blood? His hands were dirtier than even Natasha and Clint's. They killed hundreds, but he killed millions with his bare hands and with his weapons.

What made him any better than Loki, the Mandarin, or any other villain?

* * *

Natasha, Clint, and Fury were impressed.

He did it in a click of a pen. The smirk was replaced by an emotionless facial expression.

Now it was time to start the interrogation.

"And she was never the one to tell her secrets. Didn't even tell my dad, even when I was sent to work with SHIELD when I was twenty-two."

Tony knew that Fury would deny the fact that he unknowingly hired a sixteen year old. Even though Clint and Natasha were pretty young when they joined they were still older than sixteen. Just as he thought Fury did deny the fact.

"Impossible," Fury shook his head. "SHIELD has never taken you in. I would've known if you were a former employee of mine even if you worked at SHIELD for only a day I would know," Fury said.

He didn't believe that he had been that careless with Stark.

After all without the Iron Man suit he couldn't be that dangerous.

Right?

He shouldn't be questioning himself.

Of course Stark couldn't be that dangerous it was Stark. But he was also thinking that Maria looked harmless as a fly, and now he found out that she was known as a legend assassin from the 1900's.

It was just too unbelievable.

For the first time in his life he let the shock show-at least as much shock one can show if you were Nick Fury which was barely any emotion. Who could blame him after what he found out?

He'd known Maria for years they were from the same neighborhood. He was the one that introduced Maria to Howard in the first place. He met her parents, they went to the same school, and they lived right next door to each other. She couldn't be an assassin. She couldn't have been lying to him all these years.

When he'd first met Tony Stark the first thought he had in mind was that he was nothing like his mother. The only thing they had alike was the fact that they were both stubborn like a donkey.

Stark was rude and arrogant a lot more like Howard than Maria. Even Howard wasn't like Tony- at least before the war he wasn't.

Fury could guess why the new generation Stark acted like this. The Howard after the war was nothing a father should be. He was always drunk, and had a mighty temper.

But he thought at least Maria would contain her son to be more like her. Now that he learned she was an assassin he didn't think that was any better. The Predator, and Howard Stark weren't the type of parents normal kids have. And they weren't easy parents either.

"Undercover. You knew me as David Johnson, 20."

Fury took out his SHIELD phone out of his pocket, and searched for him.

Exactly as Stark said David Johnson was a real SHIELD agent.

He was known to be pretty good at his job until he died on the field when getting ambushed with his partner. David Johnson was five feet eight with blond hair and blue eyes, and a rather friendly and pleasant personality. Very intelligent, and was one of the best sharpshooters SHIELD had ever seen…

"_You_ were David Johnson? I thought you died on the field," Clint exclaimed.

He was there when David had died.

Natasha was off at Cairo for a terrorist organization then, and it was decided that David would be Clint's temporary partner in the mean time.

It was in the beginning of his career around when he was sixteen or so but he remembered it very clearly. The guy was probably the only one that at least somewhat rivaled Clint's aim. He had died when they were taken and tortured for information on SHIELD.

It was just impossible Stark and Johnson was the same person. But if they were he didn't know if he would strangle him or hug him like a teddy bear. After Natasha and Paul, David was his favorite partner and friend. He had even cried when he saw David get tortured and killed in front of him.

"Sorry, Clint. I faked my death. I needed you to believe fully that I was dead so that I could finally finish the undercover work, and go back to Tony Stark. I 'died' the same exact year that my parents were in the car crash. I was needed at MIT, but the year before that was just a break from it all. I was supposedly sick that year when I was really just helping my mom, and joining SHIELD to test out the security and yada yada yada. Next question please," Tony answered.

As David Johnson he enjoyed Clint's company and that didn't change with Anthony McGrove or Tony Stark.

Clint was like him in many ways for all three identities. Serious when put into a dangerous situation like Anthony, sarcastic and joking like Tony, and friendly and having perfect aim like David.

For the first time after Rhodey he had made a friend. A real friend that he had almost slipped his cover. That was why he dropped out and went back to MIT. He couldn't afford to get too close to anyone. It was the way that his mother did it, and it was the way that he did it too.

Never get too close, and you won't get hurt.

But for a long time he had gotten too close. The Avengers managed to slip into his mask which almost never happened before. The last ones were Obie, Rhodey, and Pepper and even they didn't learn the whole truth. Of course it hurt to keep lying to his friends, but he had to do it. Or they would just push him out like everyone else did and get themselves killed for even knowing him.

"Why don't you just tell us the whole story," Steve said getting over his shock.

Now he wanted the truth, and no matter what he was going to get it.

They were a team, and they knew practically everything about each other, but Tony was keeping secrets.

Steve thought about the last couple months that he knew Stark, and found out they really didn't know anything about him.

He knew as team leader that Clint hated circuses, Natasha used to be a Russian spy, Bruce was abused by his father, and Thor was here on Earth because of the reason that he was too eager to go into war.

But Tony… he had nothing on the guy. The only thing Steve knew about Tony was that he was a spoiled brat who was the exact opposite of his father.

"Fine. Um… well since I could walk I was trained by my mom to do martial arts, several languages, lie, tail people, make gadgets, sharp shoot, use every type of weapon you can think of, learning how to escape, and etc. My mom's side of the family was known to be made out of legendary people from espionage like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and my mom the Predator. My dad didn't know anything about the business because as much as mom wanted to tell him she wanted him to be protected from her enemies. When I was twelve years old I started to go on missions, and my mom wanted me to be an assassin like her."

Tony flinched slightly, and put his hand over his arc reactor. The reactor always helped him to keep calm, and he would definitely need it while explaining.

* * *

The more that Tony explained the more that all his teammates thought that Maria Stark wasn't that good of a mother.

Who would train their kid to be an assassin when they were just a toddler?

It was a dangerous life not appropriate for a kid, and Tony had no choice.

"So you know how to use the bow and arrows," Clint asked.

It would be nice to have someone else that knew how to handle the bow. The last person who was able to tried to kill him, and he didn't want to return to him after what happened. No one at SHIELD knew how, and they only taught how to use a gun. It was faster, smaller, and easier to hide. But for him a gun didn't really fit in his hands. He wouldn't be anywhere without his bow and arrows, and for the weapon's credit it was more silent and aims better than a gun could ever be.

"Of course I do. I would've showed out my awesome skills then, but I didn't want to seem strange for knowing archery." Tony actually liked to use the bow and arrows. It was bigger and heavier than a gun, but it was useful in other ways.

"Good because I'm going to win against you easy as pie."

Clint was perfectly confident in his talent with the bow, but he also knew that he shouldn't underestimate his teammate. Tony already proved that he was worth more than he showed.

"We'll see about that," Tony smiled.

He finally let his mask down, and the Avengers knew that it was hard for him. But it was just another obstacle that he had to overcome for him to finally have a real family. And he was determined to do it no matter what.

**AN: So sorry for updating late. I had to go school shopping, and didn't have time to write the chapter. I do not own the Avengers because unfortunately it is owned by Marvel. I know the ending doesn't really fit Tony's character, but it does for Anthony McGrove so I don't care. Now you find out that he has separate connections with Natasha, Clint, Fury, and in the movie Steve. Please review and I'll update next when we have… maybe fifteen or so reviews. So more reviews faster writing. :D**


	4. Breaking a Life Rule

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers**

The shooting arena was impressive, but Tony had seen better ones where he came from. A couple dozens of boards around 50 yards to 90 yards in distance stood in front of them. It was an outside arena, but of course with other agents there, an invisible force was surrounding the area. Various sizes of bows were on a silver table along with some guns, and throwing knives. Fortunately the room belonged to only the Avengers so the place was empty, and quiet.

Clint stood confidently with his bow and arrows on his back. Tony grabbed another spare bow and arrows, and stood next him.

"Let's make this a little more challenging shall we. We'll have five different rounds. Each you have to shoot five times. The first one will be 50 yards then 60 then 70 and etc." Clint said. "You sure you're ready to lose Stark, because just because you're my teammate doesn't mean I'll go easy on you," Clint smirked toward Tony. All he did back was to stand ready in position replying when he was confident of his posture.

"We'll see about that Barton. Who knows maybe I'll be the one to deflate your ego a bit."

Clint mocked glared him, and followed Tony into getting ready.

"READY! SET! SHOOT!"

The volleys of arrows were speeding towards their targets it looked just like a blur to the bystanders.

The two competitors shot the arrows with deep enough concentration that they didn't even notice the crowd they were forming. A group of SHIELD agents stared at the two in awe when they finished, and turned to each other. Both of them were shocked when they saw the dozens of people around them- at least as much shock two super spies could get.

Clint and Tony shook hands and sat waiting for the results of their shootings. The duo was rather confident in themselves of their skills of shooting, and that was obvious to everyone near them.

Agent Barton: 249/250 points

Tony Stark: 247/250 points

A silence was heard from the crowd that Tony could swear that even if a tissue fell onto the ground that he would've heard the landing.

"Wow, you got better over the years Stark. Though I would recommend you to stick to guns than bows," Clint broke the deafening silence. Tony's face erupted with a genuine grin.

"Well give me some slack. I'm not a bow and arrow paranoia like you."

"I'll let that one go just for now," by the time Clint answered though the people in the arena with them erupted into an ovation. He had to yell above the noise to be heard, and even then Tony could barely make out anything, but he figured it was something along those lines.

As a spy he was trained to avoid people, so skillfully he squeezed past the big group of bystanders, and managed to get out of the room without anybody noticing he was missing. Tony rolled his eyes when thinking how much they were unskilled even with the years of training and experience the SHIELD agents had. But it wasn't like they were trained the life of a spy since they could walk like he had, so Tony tried not to judge them so lowly.

The phone in his pocket began to ring with a soft vibration.

"Stark, there's a meeting at SHIELD headquarters in ten minutes. You better be there or else…" Fury left the threat hanging, and hung up on him.

Tony sighed from exhaustion. He was just about to enjoy his trip back to Stark towers, but just like always Fury had to be the party pooper. Blinking his eyes from the sleepiness he ran his fingers through his hair, and almost bumped right into Steve.

"SHIELD meeting got to go." Tony wasn't apologizing, and he definitely did not have time to be arguing with Rogers anytime now. It wasn't like he wasn't sorry, but there was no harm and just like his mother always taught him he believed that saying sorry was a sign of weakness.

The woman who was his mother was a lot of things, but she was never a good liar to him. At least that's what he suspected, after all these years he still couldn't tell when his mother was acting or telling the truth.

"Can you stop doing that," Steve said. A lot of things were going on his mind. The Avengers were a team, and he really didn't like that the team was being lied to by their own teammate. He understood that it was an emotional part of Stark's life, but this secret could've gotten a teammate killed and he wasn't going to let Tony go without an explanation.

"What exactly am I doing," his eyes narrowed a bit staring at his captain emotionless.

"Lying. That is what you are doing. The Avengers is a team, and if you can't understand that you shouldn't be in it," Steve harshly replied. He didn't mean to be harsh, and his eyes softened when he saw a flash of pain go through his comrade's eyes.

"Sorry, but I mean it. This incident could've cost lives just because we didn't know the truth. Were you even ever going to tell us your little secret if this didn't happen? When were you going to tell us anyways?"

"Do you know what I just did? I broke the biggest rule of my life: no one else other than the family is to know the truth. My family isn't like a secret organization of the government. Unlike SHIELD, CIA, ASIS, or any other organization my family is top secret. Like as in no one in this world or the next is to know. After two hundred years this secret is out, and it's on my shoulders. If anyone of my family finds out I'm fried toast."

A panic Tony was never a good thing, and Steve had no idea what to do. He probably could handle most situations like bombs, feelings, tragedies, and etc. But nobody trained him to reassure a super spy who just lied to him as long as he knew the man.

Tony calmed himself, and shook his head.

"Fortunately, the only people who know are Fury, Maria, and you guys. Hopefully nothing suspicious rises by the little competition I had with Hawkeye," he paused and with curiosity he asked. "How did that little crowd get in anyways? I thought the room was for Avengers only."

"Oh I was going to tell you later, but there was someone peeking through the barrier when that happened," Steve almost sighed with relief as the awkward tension lessened.

"I should get that fixed somehow. Wouldn't want anyone to find out. All I would need was some glass, and maybe water surrounding the room so the weather would get in, so the outside wouldn't be able to see through," he said distractedly. The corner of his eye drifted off to his watch, and he muttered a curse. Capsicle stared at him quizzically, and his eyes landed to Tony's watch.

At least he wasn't the only one this time, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was again late for the meeting with Fury.

**AN: Finally finished it yay! I'm sorry I didn't update in awhile, and because this is such a short chapter. As you already found out about the match please tell me your opinions on it. I changed the characters a little bit so they're more like the character from the movie and stuff. I'm rambling. Anyways please review and enjoy and yada yada yada and all that good stuff. To anyone of my reviewers I am hoping for a challenge, because I am running out of ideas. I really want to write a one shot soon, and I have like three rough drafts of some but they just don't seem to be good or ready. So just please review, enjoy the show (story?:D), and tell me whatever challenges you want from me:) **


	5. Pushing Things Too Far

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers**

**My last chapter wasn't my most successful, but thank you for hanging with me. Instead of making another story, I decided that I'll just make one big one because I think it'll be better that way. So here it goes.**

Tony was feeling awkward in the tense atmosphere of the meeting. Everyone in the room was staring at him like they were trying to figure out the best way to make him spill his guts out. He tried to look as normal as possible which was supposed to be easy. But he had to remind himself that half the people staring at him were spies almost as good as him. Tony, to anyone who wasn't looking for it, looked like he was calm. A smirk was planted on his face, his intelligent brown eyes screamed curiosity, and his crossed arms just added to the confident aura that he already had. To anyone who was observant enough to look past the smirk, the eyes, and the confident aura though would find it pretty easy that he was an inch away from running away from the room no matter what his instinct and pride told him.

Now that he was recovered and wasn't on the verge of going into unconsciousness, he wasn't to be treated with any mercy. Tony knew everything about being interrogated and being the one to be interrogating someone else, everyone knew he did it enough of times to know all about the art of it. He also knew that _they_ knew too. Captain Spangles was a hero of war which also meant that he had made POWs (Prisoners of War) scared shitless before. Bruce was tortured and been in custody of the army countless times before that Tony was 99% sure that it was more than all the four spies in the room have gone through. Natasha, Clint, and Fury were obvious enough. They had the same situation as him. And Thor he didn't really know. But he did know that the demigod was probably like Capsicle. No matter how big of a heart Thor seemed to have, Tony knew that whenever he wanted to he could turn into the most aggressive person that he would know from the cuddly teddy bear he always seemed to be.

He was snapped (literally) out of his thoughts by Bruce who was sitting next to him, and it was finally then that he realized the rest were shouting at him to come back to earth.

"Okay, okay. Geez who would've thought six people could make louder noise than a stampede of elephants. So what's this meeting about? I thought I explained everything to you guys a month ago."

He actually barely told them anything. More than half of the time of his recovery he had forced himself into a quiet slumber, and changed the subject whenever anyone brought it up again. The only reason he agreed to do Clint's challenge was, because the Avengers were pestering about it whenever he was awake. He didn't want the Avengers to pester him all over again, so he made himself go a little easy on Clint. If he had gone full out the master assassin wouldn't have stand a chance, but Clint was Hawkeye. The last thing Tony wanted to do was to replace his teammate. He was still Iron Man and Tony Stark, the hero, the genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist.

"No you didn't. You never did finish the story. But luckily for you, you don't have to right now."

Tony waited for Fury to continue. He knew it was too good to be true that Fury was telling the whole truth. Like he said all those months ago Fury's secrets had secrets very much like him and his secrets. After all, all this mess was started by a secret.

"You have to go to therapy along with everyone else of the Avengers Initiative. Be here in this meeting room exactly at noon tomorrow. That is all. You are all dismissed," Tony's smirk slipped, seeing it Fury smirked at him now.

"WHAT…"

"I'm not…"

"Are you crazy…?"

"I thought we agreed it would only be Stark…"

Everyone was talking at once, but it immediately was turned into stone silence when the closing of the slide door was heard. Tony cursed in all the languages he had learned over the years which was saying a lot. Natasha looked horrified by what he said well at least by the ones she understood. There were some things that were better left unsaid.

He scowled. The last time he went to a shrink, Tony almost killed the physiatrist. He wasn't thrilled for déjà vu on that episode again, especially with the Avengers with him.

He took out his Stark phone out of his pocket. Never would he let Fury have the last say on this. The phone rang twice until it was answered.

Tony tried to calm himself first before talking. "I'm only a consultant Fury you can't force me to go to therapy."

He didn't really like to pull the consultant card, but he was desperate. He'd rather get captured by terrorists before he would ever go to the shrink. Not even if his cousin begged him to, even if it would be amusing to see her try to win him back.

"What if I reveal to the world about your dirty little secret? Stark you are already in trouble. Most of the employees of SHEILD are already suspicious because of the act you did with Agent Barton. You wouldn't like it if I let that broadcast all over the world, I'm sure?"

The smugness in the Director's voice made him want to strangle the spy. He couldn't let this be revealed he was in bad terms with the spy side of the family already, and this news might just be another reason that they might cut him off permanently from the family.

He sighed annoyed. "Fine, but on two conditions," Tony paused purposely to annoy the Cyclops. "One: no one, not even you will hear what any of us say. And two: I will be the one to choose a therapist. I'm not just going to spill my life over to a stranger that doesn't even know me. I have a friend that will probably be willing to give us the talk, and he's one of the best in the world." He paused again, but not long enough for the spy to answer." I hope that you will agree with my reasons, Director."

Tony spat out the word director in bitterness, and didn't let the man answer before he cut off the line.

He opened it again, and swiped another phone number. This one which he didn't know how to react in. Should he be nervous or annoyed? Should he be glad to call his friend? Or should he emotionless like he was on missions? Tony didn't know, but he needed the physiatrist to answer first.

"I need you to come to SHEILD base, doctor."

**Like? This time I'm aiming for the same number of reviews. Around fifteen, because personally I think this is my best chapter yet even though it is kind of short. So hope you enjoy it. Please no hurting comments. A little criticism is what I need, but I hate it when people try to make me go into arguments. And to any Percy Jackson fans on in the Avengers fan crowd then let me just say that the Mark of Athena was AWESOME. The end is the worst/best cliffhanger EVER though.**


	6. Slowly Clicking Time Bomb

Oh God.

That was the only thing running in Steve's mind right now.

Tony doing the shrink was _his_ idea, but he never thought it would backfire on him.

Fury never mentioned the other Avengers were going to attend too… now that he thinks about it though, he never mentioned they wouldn't.

Stark's taunting voice echoed in his head, "Fury is the ultimate spy. His secrets have secrets."

Steve shook his head. Ughh, why did the genius have to have all that different identity business? He was already confused enough with the 21st century, and trying to figure out Iron Man. But to have Iron Man+ Anthony McGrove+ Tony Stark all as the one person was messing with his head.

Tony Stark= genius, Anthony McGrove= spy, Iron Man= superhero. At least they all had one thing in common all three were amazing at undercover work. And he really, really_, really_ hated it. Maybe as much as he hated Loki. And maybe, _maybe_ as much as he hated his life.

Why, just why couldn't everything be simple?

Steve sighed loudly, shaking his mind clear of all the things going on in his noggin.

For once in his life… he really, really, really_, really_ wanted to get drunk.

* * *

Tony groaned as he woke up the next morning. Nightmares had been haunting him all night, and now even his happiest dreams were filled with death.

Some of them were past missions, others were about Afghanistan, and most were about his teammates, Rhodey, and Pepper.

He couldn't bear it if he lost any of them because of his past mistakes. Especially Pepper.

Thinking about his gorgeous girlfriend, his mind drifted to the day four years ago when his CEO found out his secret.

Tony dreaded that day almost as much as Afghanistan.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Her flowing, bright red dress fit perfectly on her. She looked beautiful and stunning…But the scowl on her face, made him uncomfortable, and for once in his life he had no idea what was going on._

_Pepper's hands were crossed, and she kept staring at him with an unusual look that he only got once before when they first met. At that time nearly ten years ago, he nearly fired her for telling him he made a mistake on his mathematics. Her brown eyes looked accusing, and suspicious, and there was a look of… what was it… fear. She was tense, and nervous, and most definitely angry._

"_Anthony Edward Stark, would you like to explain why I'm holding a file that says you were nearly killed and tortured on a mission of who knows what!" her voice became louder by every word, and she broke down crying after she was done hitting the shit out of Tony._

"_W-why does it say that you're an as… assassin. You're not a killer, I know you aren't. So w-why does i-it s-s-say t-t-that," she stuttered as her body shook with her sobs._

_He grimaced. She had found out. Tony didn't want her to know. He had who knows how many enemies, and her to find out this way… it was way worse than he ever imagined._

_Pepper was a strong person, one of the strongest, kindest, and confident women he had ever had the chance to meet, and… and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her._

_He explained slowly, and she found out more later on. Tony didn't want to overwhelm her with everything, and… he just didn't want to go there._

_She was more hysterical with every word, and Tony freaked out. He was horrible with real human emotions. Undercover work was different from real life._

_He just hoped he wouldn't screw up like this again._

_End of Flashback_

* * *

He didn't know which was worse. How the Avengers found out and will find out more, or how Pepper figured out the lies that he told his whole life.

Tony still couldn't understand how a secret he kept perfectly fine for most his life, be found out by several people in the course of five years.

Was he getting sloppy?

He shivered mentally even thinking what that could get him in. A spy was never, _never_ to show any weakness. That was what that made them good. But that was also why they were always left alone as an outcast.

He heard his father's favorite motto echoing in his ear.

"Starks have iron in their backbones. Don't be the first one in the family to break that."

"Fine, dad. Like you were one for role models," Tony muttered bitterly.

He and his father nearly never got along.

The press knew them as a perfect little example of how a father and son should be like. Hell, that's most likely what the Avengers thought, too. But in truth they couldn't even stand each other for ten seconds.

Howard Stark on his best days would tell him about the amazing Captain America, his impossible adventures that he went through with his sidekick, Bucky.

On his worst days he would be drunk, telling him how worthless he was. And sometimes… sometimes he would beat him up to a pulp or maybe throw a glass bottle at his head. It varied every time.

But his mom was a totally different story.

She was the kind of women that would be described sort of like Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter. Strict, formal, but had a heart of gold.

If only she stopped taking drugs, if only she didn't die that day with his father in the car accident, if he could even call it that.

If only she wasn't a world class assassin.

She would've been perfect…

Ugh!

Tony shook his head, and banged it on the wall behind him.

The stupid thinking of the shrink messed with his head.

He threw down the gadget he was working on, and closed his eyes shut. His face showed stress all over, and the bags under his eyes told the story of Tony Stark not sleeping like he was always told to by Pepper.

God, he missed her. Ever since he had gotten hurt, she had to go to a four month long vacation with her parents.

He slammed his clenched fist onto the table. His mind was racing, and his eyes were drooping almost to the point at where he couldn't see through the tiny slot that produced the littlest bit of light he could have gotten.

Man, he needed to sleep.

* * *

**(AN: Bet you thought I was just going to leave it there, weren't you. Well… hmm. I'll continue. Only because I'm in a good mood today:D)**

* * *

**Hours later:**

* * *

Bruce walked into the therapy room, his heart panging in anxiousness. He was not one to talk about his childhood. Especially, to an organization that might just turn on him at any moment and use the stuff they learned about Bruce against the guy. But he had no choice. And if there was one thing the Other guy and him shared; they hated not being able to choose their decision.

* * *

Natasha strode into the room looking emotionless as usual. Inside she wasn't even close to being stoic though. Her heart was pounding louder and faster than normal and her head was threatening to explode at any moment. Flashbacks hit her so fast she could barely keep her brain function enough to walk to an empty chair. She really didn't need that right now.

* * *

Clint jogged toward the shrink, realizing if he was late Fury would have his head.

But his mind and heart wasn't in the jog.

It was in a whole other place, back when he was abused by his dad, back when Clint was bullied in the orphanage, back when he first learned to do archery at the circus, back when… Barney abandoned him to fend for himself…

He pushed those thoughts away though, even though he knew he couldn't keep on pushing it forever.

Especially if he was going to mental therapy sessions.

Fucking hell, Stark.

* * *

Thor's booming voice seemed even louder in his head.

He didn't know exactly what therapy or shrink meant, but his friends explained it enough for him to get the general idea.

Whoever said that Thor had maybe the best life anyone could hope for was wrong.

Oh yeah, he remembered the good times when Loki was his brother, Odin was his father, and his mother (stepmom) was Frigga. But that was before it all came crashing down.

Before Loki found out about his real family, before they had to fight against each other, before Odin, as he realized, would do anything for Asgard, even if he had to torture his own son to do what his people wanted.

Now all Thor wanted was to go back when those events never happened. He knew, however, that even in Asgard, that was impossible.

* * *

Steve was fast-walking toward the meeting room, now known as the Avenger's shrink room, he guessed.

Back in the 1940's, hundreds of soldiers had to go to therapy for the shellshock that must've experienced during the war.

But he was Captain America, and no one thought he needed to go see a psychiatrist. He was glad they didn't.

The things he saw were horrific to no end.

Nightmares kept him awake even at the latest hour of the night, and he was just staring at the wall or drawing the stars in his new sketchbook.

Everything had changed he hated it, even the night stars that used to shine bright like glitter on the clear, blue, midnight sky.

* * *

Tony wasted as much time as he could.

He took time as he strolled down the halls, and stopped for nearly five minutes until he casually open the door.

Everyone stared at him, and he put on his 'I'm awesome' smirk on, and sat down next to Bruce.

It was going to be a long, long, long, long, long_, long_ day.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be.

But Tony doubted it. If anything it would be worse.

* * *

**AN: Please check out OceanBreeze7's Pushing the Boundries story. We wrote it together, and she is a magnificent author. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll probably update again at December. Sorry I have school.**

**Goal: 15 reviews (help me reach it!)  
**

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